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Weak outlook tarnishes Apple's record results

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What goes up must come down.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What’s the next innovation that captures the market for the next few years? Get that announced and released, stick stays high. Otherwise competition is just going to gnaw away at the client base, and an iPhone5s is just not going to do it! They won't die, but keeping stock as high as it is is going to be a huge challenge.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's only natural. As the market finally gets saturated, as more and more people now own smartphones and tablets, there's less and less people who you could more readily sell to. It's like at the beginning, computer sales are gung-ho, but now that people already have computers, PC sales are stagnant. People who already own smartphones and tablets do not readily replace those products every time the new thing comes out. So Apple sales will start to slow down and plateau as well.

Meanwhile, investors look forward - they don't look back. It's not what you used to do; it's what you're gonna do. Apple will reach a point where they'll never again replicate those types of stellar growth. That's the reason investors are selling stock now while the going's good.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Market nalyst Howard Lindzon said

"The company has never traded on its profit, it's the exact opposite of Amazon. Apple has been rewarded for its innovation. The market is expecting more magic. Apple is kind of stuck, for a company that executes so flawlessly. They are printing money, and the market doesn't care."

never traded on profit...... rewarded for innovation....executes flawlessly.

Strange old world, but nonetheless there you have it. They are rolling in the dough like Scrooge McDuck, but even the most ardent Granny Smith out there must agree that the innovation coming out of Cupertino isn't what it used to be. Apple stop coasting, first port of call: ios- the interface has not changed in 6 years since it's release! 6 years of the same function-less interface? that's not innovation Apple - that's more of the same!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Apple and Sammy are the only two making ANY money.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Was not it what happened with Microsoft? They keep on changing software in order to survive.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

We'll probably see a bounce back in the next few weeks once all the sellers are done, still money to be made if you're smart about it

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi

Al Gore just took up his option to buy $28 million of Apple stock for less than $500,000. He's smiling all the way to the bank.

If you meant that to say that Apple's stock is doing better and a better future than what people think, you don't understand stock options. Stock options mean that someone has the right to buy a certain number of shares at a fixed price, they usually have an expiration date.

For example, someone who works for company X can have the option to buy 100 of its actions at 1$, whatever the actual price of the stocks on the market. So if the stock is worth 3$ and he exercises his options, he get 300$ worth of actions for 100$. On the other hand, if the stock is worth 0,50$, then he would get only 50$ worth of actions in exchange for his 100$.

Anyway, what it means is that if the stock is climbing, you have no reason to buy them, unless the expiration date is coming. It's better to use the money elsewhere, in other investments. However, when the stock value has peaked and that you foresee its coming decline, then that is the moment you should exercise your options, buying the stocks at the peak price then trying to sell them before the price comes down.

TL;DR version: Al Gore exercised his Apple stock options because he foresees that Apple's stock is just going down, not because he thinks that it will start growing again. If you posted your comment as evidence of Apple's bright future, you got it wrong.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think the investors have a saying: you know that it's time to sell when even your taxi driver recommends buying.

When people who don't follow financial news nor have any expertise want to buy a stock, it creates a bubble, these people don't know the fundamentals of the markets and create excessive demand. They base their decisions on an irrational but popular belief: "the stock's value has grown a lot in the recent past, so it will likely grow just as fast in the future."

I think Apple has just gone through that phase, people who knew nothing about the market heard good things about the stock and went to buy it, driving the price up. But Apple's fundamentals don't justify a price that high, so after the vast inflow of cash is gone, the fundamentals reassert themselves and the price is doomed to fall to a more reasonable value. Analysts predicting Apple's meteoric rise to slow down just hastened the process.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

KKK

Great time to buy Apple stock? lol, unless you're plan is to lose money, it's a terrible time to buy Apple stocks. It's not going to go back up. I feel the Apple stock has finally leveled out and will float in the 450 range, which I already stated multiple times. Now whether it keeps dropping is all up to what Apple plans to release in the future.

Well thanks for your insightful stock advice. It's probably as good as the rest of the street. Anyway, let's see what happens. In my book, the stock is under-priced by the fools on the street, so a fantastic time to buy.

DH74

Wow, you guys are sure naive... The profits were up because of the iPhone 5 launch... What is Apple going to do until the next iPhone?

Well duh. And the iPad mini release. They don't have to do anything except build the iPhone 5S and then reap the rewards from that. Look at Samsung. Around the same revenue but way lower profit. And they are number two. Can't break into the tablet market no matter how hard they try.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Markets haven't been closed that long and already another 2points down. We might see it drop below 416 billion in cap, and then Exxon will regain it's crown as the most valuable company

Fantastic time to buy when the dust settles. Mark my words.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@basroil

The firm said its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets has been its top seller, driving profits. The handsets division, which sells about a quarter of all mobile phones in the world according to analysts, saw an operating profit of 5.44tn won, up from 2.56tn won a year earlier.

TBH, I think their TV and white goods have less profit margin. Does the mobile group profit match Apples %? No, but the reason for the Apple stock price drop is all related to potential. People see competitors as taking more market share from Apple, and Apple don't seem to have anything stunning in the works that could claw that share back (or defend it).

People were wowed by the iPhone, it stood alone in the market, but that isn't true now. I have a 4s, and like it lots. Reason for buying it was the associated infrastructure with app store, etc - others are catching up and provide most, if not all of what I want in their respective eco-systems. My next phone (2-4 years later if this one doesn't break) will most likely be based purely on price/value.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@2020Hindsight, How long do you think the Apple fanboys will conintue to buy an updated version of the iPhone that is simply regurgitated out by Apple? My guess is not very long considering the competition is building better phones to begin with...

CoolPad Quattro, a company 1 1/10th the size of Apple sells in China for a fraction of the cost and is the number one phone selling in the PRC. After Apple sold its 47.8M iPhone5's (which came in under the Streets expectations) to all its loyal followers, who else is going to buy the product? They make one phone that continues to canabalize the previous version. If they make a cheaper iPhone which tehy said they will not do in the conference call, tehn that too will canabalize other products...

Bottom line is profit margins are shrinking, compettition is heating up, and they have saturated the markets where the only people who could really afford the phone in the first place... Oh and they are no longer going to understate their earnings. Could it go to $700 again? Absolutely! Will it anytime soon? Doubtful, unless a new product launch that catches on like the other products...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The article is full of mistakes that were corrected at least one month ago.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

fivegogo: Oops! Didn't notice you said the same thing. Sorry.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I bought at 70 so I am chill, but still. Wish I'd sold at 700. I'll bide my time, Apple isn't going anywhere but up in the long term. Apple stores are the only reason to go to a mall...the China connection is just getting started...

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Carcharodon, they need to wait until the next release of either Android or Windows Phone first that way Apple can "innovate" some new features from them devices, that is normally how it goes anyway!

I loved the new panoramic camera advert for the iPhone 5 what a great feature, then I remembered I had the feature 6 months earlier on my Sony Xperia S and it can also produce it in 3D!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Apple stock was $514 on close, unchanged from yesterday. Actually, if you look back over 12 months, the stock is higher (409ish) and higher than 2 years back, BUT the price rise was fueled by optimism of new product launches growing the footprint even larger. It may have peaked, so the stock may drop a bit more unless Apple come out with something really new. Staying stable doesn't excite institutional investors. Which could be why our economies are in such a mess.

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart?symbol=AAPL.O

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Look's like 2012 was a very successful year for Apple. The first full year with its new CEO Tim Cooks. Apple sold 126 million iPhones, 67 million iPads and 17 million macs. It will give back to stock holders, half of the $137 billion its holding in cash. That will leave those who sold their stock having regrets.

@zichi - Great sentiment - but all below expectations. I don't write the rules so please don't shoot me, but underperform can't be classed as a "successful" year in the investment world.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The stock has dropped 12% wiping $50 billion off it's value.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Compare to U.S., Apple can benefit from China and other emerging countries where smartphone market is not saturated yet. Apple should consider a cheaper iPhone that does not compromise much on the build quality and margins, to a move similar to the iPad mini. This will help lower the per phone subsidy costs and potentially help Apple with the increase in profit.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Around the same revenue but way lower profit.

Are you absolutely sure?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21191431

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

mark me down as much as you like but I'm only posting facts that are being reported in the international media

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@ 2020Hindsight... So I listened to the conference call, did you?

If you go buy PE, yes AAPL is underpriced but that does not stop the smart money dumping the stock because its lost its legs now is it? I can show you MSFT financials and make a point about how under valued it is. But then I will tell you the stock has fone no where in almost a decade. Apple the stock is way over valued! And it is why Smart money has dumped it while people like you still hold it and will continue to do so all the way down.

And since you brought up my comment about numbers are on iPhone5, let me ask you... After they saturate the market which they have already have, who is going to buy the phone? Too expensive in China and India? Cooke and Oppenheimer blame the supplpy side for slowing demand, yet all the suppliers cut their forecasts after the earnings. If the demand was there, they wouldn't have done so...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Prices for Mobiles in China: In China: Apple iPhone 5 costs 5288 RMB utilizing newer technology Apple iPhone 4S costs 3088 RMB utilizing older technology Samsung Galaxy costs 1299 RMB utilizing newer technology

Now why would any person in China buy an iPhone that was released 2 years ago for almost 2.5 times the price of a modern Samsung? And lets not forget the iPhone5 price either, whic is ridiculous...

Apple either creates a cheaper phone to be sold in these types of markets and/or comes up with some groundbreaking innovative revolutionary product AGAIN. if not, the exact same thing that happened in the 80's will ghappen again... Apple will conmtinue to lose marketshare...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

no surprise that the Android OS will make up a majority of smartphones since only one company uses iOS and something like 10 use android... I wonder how much "research" this IDS had to complete to come up with that statement

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Make something worth buying, iphone5 was an iphone4 with a bigger screen and crappy maps.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

What goes up, must come down. There's no way they could keep that kind of momentum going, especially with all the copies on the market, and with Jobs gone. You simply cannot replace that man.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Great time to buy Apple shares. Man, I wish I could have got them at 470. They are 514 now. A lot of idiots sold at exactly the wrong time.

I agree there is a ceiling to how much growth there is in the market. But sales and profit went up. They are at record levels. They just didn't go up by as much as previously.

Wow, you guys are sure naive... The profits were up because of the iPhone 5 launch... What is Apple going to do until the next iPhone? Apple is its own worst enemy and is replicating exactly what it did in the 1980's... They have saturated the market and refuse to lower prices to sell their phones in the biggest market of all... A major blunder in strategy that is already costing them... If Cooke like jobs before him thinjkks the Chinese will dumb down and buy a iPhone from 3 years ago, they have another thing coming. Android phones have continued to steal marketshare from Apple. Apple now has sold 47.8M iPhone 5's but that actually came in under estimates from the Street. And as I said before, whAt are they going to sell for the rest of they year? And don't buy the excuse that Cooke and Oppenheimer claim that sales slowed due to suppliers not able to keep up with demand. If that were true then Foxconn, Hon Hai, and LG all would not have lsashed their own outlooks after Apple's earnings... Apple will never see 700 again, lucky if they see 550 again...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@2020hindsights

Explain to me why you think it is underpriced? At the same time, explain why their stock ever went that high to begin with. I'm thinking there isn't much to say, as it's not underpriced and there was no reason why their stock should have ever rised to where it was (aside from moronic investors/analysts).

Also did you just compare Samsung's revenue/net profit to Apple? Samsung Electronics by itself is in more markets than Apple is in. They products TVs, tablets, phones, memory, hdds, computers, cameras, camcorders, batteries, processors, etc. Consider how many different markets Samsung Electronics is in, the fact that they also have almost triple the employees that Apple has, that their profits are that high.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Just as predicted, Apple closed out below Exxon to drop down to only the second largest company. Question now is how low can it go... My guess is it'll hit 350 sometime before the new icrap is leaked, and then jump back to the 400 range.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-profit-rocket-hits-air-215506254.html

Despite what those sipping apple juice want to believe, Apple just tanked hard. Analysts had expected 57million iphones sold on the low end, lower than early year predictions of 65 million or so, talk about missing target!

Stocks are now down to $460, and Apple is just another $20 from losing it's market cap crown to Exxon.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

CarcharodonJan. 24, 2013 - 08:36PM JST

Apple stop coasting, first port of call: ios- the interface has not changed in 6 years since it's release! 6 years of the same function-less interface? that's not innovation Apple - that's more of the same!

OSX also hasn't changed in a decade, it's already showing it's age in performance measures just like iOS5/6, just check web browsing speeds, where chrome is about half the speed as in Windows 7/android. Apple's been riding along on iphones like it did with macbooks, and all their "innovation" was in things that failed horribly like ping, large retina displays, and sticking laptop parts where they don't belong (and charging more than for the desktop parts)

Not even open yet and the stock is already set to start at $465.40, same level as about 50 weeks ago. That's going to cause a sell-off from now to the first leaks about a new device.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Heda_MadnessJan. 25, 2013 - 04:41AM JST

The stock has dropped 12% wiping $50 billion off it's value.

Markets haven't been closed that long and already another 2points down. We might see it drop below 416 billion in cap, and then Exxon will regain it's crown as the most valuable company (which was earned, not speculated into)

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Great time to buy Apple stock? lol, unless you're plan is to lose money, it's a terrible time to buy Apple stocks. It's not going to go back up. I feel the Apple stock has finally leveled out and will float in the 450 range, which I already stated multiple times. Now whether it keeps dropping is all up to what Apple plans to release in the future.

If Apple keeps releasing these mediocre rehashes in different sizes, I expect their stock to continue down to the 300ish range and stay there. I don't see their stock ever climbing back up to it's previous levels, as it was simply overpriced with no discernible reason as to why.

@zichi

Dividend amount = $2.65 per share Stock loss = $250 per share

Those who kept stock, lost a whole lot more money than those who sold off at the peak. Even if Apple gave out $2.65 per share in dividends every quarter, that would be 23 1/2 years of dividends to make up for that large of a loss.

Those who sold off their Apple stock, a whole lot less regret than the morons who kept it.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

The passageJan. 25, 2013 - 01:00PM JST

Are you absolutely sure?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21191431

Some people drink too much applejuice to remember that Samsung does more than just phones, and those operations have high cost and low profit. Samsung's reliance on mobile is also much smaller, nowhere near apple's 50-something %

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Great time to buy Apple shares. Man, I wish I could have got them at 470. They are 514 now. A lot of idiots sold at exactly the wrong time.

I agree there is a ceiling to how much growth there is in the market. But sales and profit went up. They are at record levels. They just didn't go up by as much as previously.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

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